Distinguishing glucuronic from iduronic acid in glycosaminoglycan tetrasaccharides by using electron detachment dissociation.

ABSTRACT: Distinguishing the epimers iduronic acid (IdoA) and glucuronic acid (GlcA) has been a long-standing challenge for the mass spectrometry analysis of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) oligosaccharides. In this work, electron detachment dissociation (EDD) and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry is shown to provide mass spectral features that can distinguish GlcA from IdoA in heparan sulfate (HS) tetrasaccharides. EDD of HS tetrasaccharide dianions produces a radical species that fragments to produce information-rich glycosidic and cross-ring product ions which can be used to determine the sites of acetylation/sulfation. More significantly, EDD of HS tetrasaccharide epimers produces diagnostic product ions that can be used to distinguish IdoA from GlcA. These diagnostic product i

SUBMITTER: Wolff JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2586617 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature